From humble beginnings seven years ago, the Orange Chamber Music Festival (OCMF) has grown year on year and, even with the addition of larger venues, is selling out shows months in advance.

The allocation of passes for this year’s festival, which takes place March 12-15, sold out in November, and general admission tickets to the handful of remaining shows are selling fast, according to Festival Director Carmen Nieves.

“The reputation of the festival is travelling far, and we've seen a lot of new customers coming through in the last two years that have heard the festival always referred to as an excellent activity, that it is fun, it's different,” Carmen said.

When the festival was founded in 2019, there was a real focus not only on showcasing world-class musicians but also on highlighting Orange as a destination. It has become a real point of difference for the Orange festival, that it takes the audience out of concert halls and into unique and unusual venues like old churches, farm buildings and historic hotels.

“That aspect of involving several venues is quite unique to the Orange Festival and I think that's attractive to travellers in particular, that it involves a good showcase of the whole region rather than just sitting in one venue and doing a series of concerts,” Carmen said.

“And they are investing four days, coming here, staying in the hotels, eating out, the whole festival and getting involved in everything we can offer in Orange.

“So that's why it's growing. It's growing in reputation. It's growing in the offering. We are involving more and more venues, and we're getting bigger venues.”

As an example, Carmen pointed to the festival’s Opening Night Gala at the large Banksia function centre, where award-winning singer-songwriter Lior will be accompanied by the Sydney-based Nomad String Quartet.

“We are doing Banksia for the first time because we can fill it now,” Carmen said. “And we're doing another new venue in Boree Cabonne, which is a historic complex that has never hosted any concerts before, again with a capacity of 200 people!

“Clearly, this is a good response to the program, which is looking fantastic, and it's a good sign that we can sustain the festival with the interest that it is generating. There are lots of people from Queensland, Adelaide and the ACT, so the audience is definitely expanding.”

For more information and the full Orange Chamber Music Festival Program, visit ocmf.com.au